No excuses

It’s hard to believe that during the same decade in which terrorists used commercial airliners to launch 9/11, the only thing that stopped yet another attack over the weekend was the heroism of quick-thinking passengers — not security measures supposedly enhanced since 9/11.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was apparently so taken with the idea of mass murder that he alarmed his own father, a highly credible former Nigerian government official and prominent banker, enough that he notified the U.S. embassy in Nigeria about his son’s radical inclinations last month.

There are even credible reports that Abdulmutallab received instruction in explosives and other terrorist tactics from al-Qaida trainers in Yemen.

Yet, despite all that, he was able to board — with a one-way ticket and no bags — Northwest Airlines Flight 253 bound for Detroit in Amsterdam carrying materials that, if detonated, would cause the plane to blow up over Michigan as it descended for a landing. According to reports, he had not been screened either in Lagos, Nigeria, where he boarded a plane to Amsterdam, or in the Netherlands, even though he had the materials in his underwear the whole way.

His name was on a general watch list for people with known associations to terrorist groups, but it somehow never made it onto the official no-fly list or into the database of suspicious foreigners forbidden to enter the United States.

He passed through routine security checks; enhanced measures, such as bomb-sniffing dogs which could have detected the materials, were not used.

So, as the plane approached Detroit, he went into the airplane’s lavatory to assemble the powder and liquid chemicals for his bomb, emerged, went back to his seat and attempted to detonate it. The device flamed, made popping noises and smoked, but never exploded as he planned. And before he could try again, several passengers quickly recognized his intentions and subdued him.

The horrible Christmas Day massacre he planned was averted, but no thanks to the tens of billions of dollars the U.S. has spent to increase security since 9/11. This is why Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s statement over the weekend that “once the incident occurred, the system worked” would be laughable if it were not so infuriating. Note the qualifier. The incident did occur; the bomb failed.

The only thing that worked were the impromptu actions taken by other passengers, just as in the case of Richard Reid, the infamous “Shoe Bomber.” That someone with Mr. Abdulmutallab’s decidedly suspicious background was able to come so close to becoming a new martyr/hero to Islamic extremists is appalling.

Equally galling is the disingenuous attempt by some of the administration’s defenders to downplay this grave incident. They can try to spin it only because the attack, in this case, failed.

They also suggest that Mr. Abdulmutallab was acting alone and such incidents are rare. But does the question of whether or not he is an al-Qaida operative, received al-Qaida training or was a lone wannabe really make any difference? Flight 253 and all its occupants would have still fallen from the sky in flames had he succeeded.

And al-Qaida is only too happy to exploit the zeal of such aspirants, unstable as they are, to confuse, distract and overwhelm counter-terrorism efforts — even as hardened al-Qaida veterans continue to plot their own operations.

Meanwhile, the new security measures ordered by Homeland Security in the wake of this incident — forbidding airline passengers to leave their seats or have anything on their laps during the last hour of flight — are hapless. Who’s to say the next terrorist won’t detonate his bomb just after takeoff or in mid-flight? Al-Qaida isn’t stupid.

And, according to reports, a call has gone out to would-be terrorists to come to al-Qaida-saturated Yemen to be trained in how to inflict maximum damage on Westerners.

This time the bumbling terrorist failed, but rest assured, there will be a next time and a time after that, and airline passengers may not be so lucky. Homeland Security has to do a better job at stopping these crazies before they board airplanes. No excuses.